


This Dance

by Senatsu



Category: Rockman.EXE | Mega Man Battle Network
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 06:54:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4512192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Senatsu/pseuds/Senatsu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chaud extends an invitation to his friends for the masquerade ball his company is hosting. What he didn't account for was this invitation becoming the catalyst for a developing friendship - and, perhaps, more - with Maylu.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Invite

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted from FF.net.

"It's in a month."

The group curiously examined the invitation that had been tossed onto the table. It displayed a grandly decorated ballroom, and elegant, crimson, calligraphy-like text that read "MASQUERADE."

"To be honest, I won't have much time to chat," Chaud continued, "because the entire point of hosting it is a whole lot of hobnobbing and networking with a bunch of big wigs in the business. But I figured you guys might be interested in the free food, at least." He let out a chuckle as Lan's eyes began to gleam the moment the words left his mouth. "Plus, there's going to be live music and dancing. I'm not crazy about the masquerade theme, personally, but it's sort of a trend with the elite right now." The boy ran a hand through his two-tone hair with a faint look of irritation, then shrugged.

"Anyway, if any of you are interested, let me know in the next couple of days. The dress code is kind of... expensive, so I'll make arrangements to take care of that for any of you that will be coming." At a resulting indignant sniff from off to the side, he smiled slightly. "Relax. I wasn't implying anything, Ayano. Since it's my event, I'm offering to take care of it. That's all."

The blonde girl still frowned, but seemed acceptably mollified by this.

"Wow, Chaud, it's really cool of you to invite us," Maylu finally piped up. She was now holding the invitation in her hands, admiring the image of the ball's location. "I'd definitely love to come! Consider me RSVP'd!"

Chaud laughed. "Duly noted, Sakurai." He glanced over at the person beside her, who was practically drooling by this point. "... Lan, I take it you're coming, too? Wait, before you answer, let me get you a napkin."

Lan yanked his sleeve across his mouth, reddening slightly. "Sh... shut up! Yeah I'm coming!" He grinned cheerfully. "I'd never miss the catering at an event like this!"

Lan's friend smirked, turning his gaze to their blonde companion expectantly. Predictably, Yai huffed when she noticed his eyes on her, crossing her arms. "I'll... see what my schedule is like. I'm a busy woman, you know."

"Of course." Chaud refrained from laughing again, but amusement flickered through his eyes. Then he turned back to Maylu and Lan. Make sure to pass the word to the others, will you? I've gotta get going, I'm due out for a business trip today."

Maylu and Lan both nodded, and Maylu gave a little wave. "No problem! See you later, Chaud!"

The boy held up a hand of his own in response as he made his exit.


	2. A Hundred Dresses

"You really didn't have to come, Chaud." Maylu tipped her head, gazing up at him with a puzzled smile. "Not that I'm complaining! But I'm sure you've got better things to do than watch a girl try on a hundred dresses."

The boy chuckled. "Trust me, I came along because I know you're _not_ going to do that. You seem to usually have a pretty good idea of what you want, so I don't think I'll get stuck here for the next five years while you pick something. Besides, I don't have any meetings today."

Maylu shook her head. "I appreciate your vote of confidence. I'm not so sure you're right, considering what my bedroom looks like sometimes after trying to choose an outfit... but I appreciate it just the same."

"Mm, but is that all the time or just on... certain occasions?" He gazed at her in pointed amusement.

She flushed faintly in response. "A-ah, well... yeah, I guess it is." She laughed, rubbing her neck awkwardly. Then she took to muttering. "Don't know why I even ever bothered, honestly. It was like dressing up to catch the attention of a rock." Chaud turned his head away at this, covering up his mouth to stifle a snigger. Maylu caught sight of his shoulders shaking, and whacked him immediately. "Hey! It's not funny, you jerk!" Despite her words, however, she was clearly trying not to laugh. "Listen, not that you're currently in the market for a girlfriend or anything, but pro-tip: we like to be told we're pretty!" She crossed her arms as they stepped through the door into the boutique.

"I'll try to remember that," Chaud said with a lopsided grin, letting the door close behind them. "But if that's true, then I don't really get how Lan got to be such a ladies' man."

His companion groaned, dropping her head in her hands. "I don't even want to talk about that. Stupid Lan!" As they approached a rack of brightly-colored dresses, she gave him an annoyed look. "Well, he can do whatever he wants. I've thrown in the towel."

Chaud stopped in his tracks, startled. "You have?" That was the last thing he'd expected to hear from the lips of the girl who'd been in hopeful pursuit of Lan for the large majority of the sixteen years she'd been alive.

"Well... yeah." She gazed at the dresses, slowly sliding the hangers along the rack. "It's not that I've stopped caring, exactly. I still kinda wish he'd look at me that way. But I'm just not the kind of girl who's going to sit around until we're twenty years old and suddenly he wakes up and realizes I've been there all along! Jasmine can have at it, as far as I'm concerned." Maylu scowled, one hanger making a particularly loud screech as she shoved it along. Then the scowl melted away, and she sighed. "It's just... time to move on, I think. Instead of getting butterflies, I get anxiety. I feel so frustrated! All this time spent worrying over how to get him to look at me as a girl, finally... it's just not worth it, you know? There's so many other things I could be doing."

The girl paused, a dress in one hand, and looked over her shoulder at Chaud with a wry grin. "Hey... picking out dresses and talking about boys... this excursion girly enough for you, yet?"

Chaud snorted. "Yeah. Next stop, makeovers." Inwardly, though, he still found himself reeling with surprise. Not only had he not anticipated her giving up, he also hadn't realized just how deeply her frustrations ran. Even worse, he felt like he _should_ have realized. After years of trying, again and again - and failing, again and again - anyone would be worn down by now. And if Lan had managed to avoid falling for with her charms for this long, considering she'd only gotten prettier as the years drifted by, then perhaps it wasn't meant to be. At least, not in this stage of their lives.

His attention flickered over to the girl in question. Truly, she seemed to have somehow surpassed the gangly, clumsy awkwardness of teenagerhood. The cherry-red hair that she'd allowed to grow long now hung to the base of her shoulder-blades, her favorite Roll-themed hairclip still in place at the side. Her posture had matured considerably; she always held herself with shoulders gently squared, back straight, and head held high. The air about her had evolved into one of grace, composure, and confidence.

Well, when she wasn't fired up about something, anyway. Like Lan.

She now stood in front of a nearby mirror, holding up one of the dresses against her experimentally. "Hmm..." she said, frowning. "As much as I like purple, I really don't think it's my color." She returned the dress to the rack, now lifting off a green one she'd had her eye on.

Chaud eyed her, then the dresses. "I don't know. I think you could pull off pretty much any color you wanted to."

Maylu looked up at this in surprise. Then she grinned. "You say that now, but that's because you've never seen me in yellow." At Chaud's raised eyebrow, she shook her head. "It was two years ago, there was this one swimsuit, and... well, it was a capital B Bad Idea. I looked like a banana."

Again Chaud muffled a laugh. "I'm sure you made a very cute banana, Sakurai."

She groaned. "Definitely not." Another dress came off the rack. "I burned every picture that swimsuit was in."

"Damn, there's goes all my hopes of seeing it with my own eyes."

"It was either burn the evidence or crawl under a rock and never come out. I decided on the fire option."

Chaud leaned against a column, crossing his arms comfortably. "Hm. Maybe if I hire a forensics team..."

Maylu whipped around to look at him in horror.

He laughed. "I'm kidding."

She relaxed only slightly. "Yeah, but unlike the rest of us, you could actually pull that off - which scares me." She delicately folded a dress over her arm, adding it to the small pile accumulating there. "All right, this is a good start. I'm off to the changing rooms!" Maylu grinned at him as she began to walk away. "If you get bored, I'm sure they could find something pretty in your size!"

Chaud rolled his eyes.

Once his friend had disappeared from view, he pulled his PET from its holster. No urgent notifications, fortunately, but there was always work to be done. Besides, the more he got done in stolen in-between moments, the greater freedom he had outside of them.

"Hey, I'm ready to go!" a cheerful voice interrupted his focus, and he looked up from his work.

"You decided already?" The surprise was evident on his face.

Maylu smiled ear to ear, clearly pleased. "I know, I can't believe it either. Even I'm not usually this quick! But every now and then, you find something and you just... know. A sort of love at first sight, I guess, haha!" She cradled a bundle of aqua-blue fabric in her arms, looking down at it happily.

Chaud felt a strange twinge at these words, but thought nothing of it, straightening from the pillar. "Well, I'm not complaining!" He held out his hand. "Here, I'll take it to the counter." She slid the hanger into his grasp, and he headed for the cash wrap.

"Aw, shopping with your girlfriend?" said the cashier, a young blonde girl with a bright smile. "That's SO cute! What's the occasion?"

The boy startled, his hand faltering with the dress. He'd encountered the incorrect assumption more than once before, with both Anetta and Yai. Given the way both girls were prone to behaving around him, he couldn't blame anyone for guessing wrong. But no one had ever made the mistake with Maylu before, and it caught him off guard.

Before he could recover, Maylu piped up from behind him. "Oh, he's just a friend! He's helping me get ready for an event."

The cashier looked disappointed, scanning the tag on the dress. "O-oh, I'm sorry... I thought for sure from the way you two looked talking to each other that you were together!"

Chaud was even less certain how to respond to this than he had been to the previous remark. The way they were talking to each other? Looked like they were together? What did that even mean? He only barely managed to register the cashier reading the total to him - a sum that made Maylu flinch slightly - in time to lift his PET to make the payment.

"Thank you so much! Have a good day!" the girl behind the counter said, cheerful once again as she handed him the bag containing the dress.

He nodded to her, stowing his PET in his holster and turning on his heel to leave. Maylu smiled at the girl and waved, then moved to follow him out the door.

* * *

As the two customers made their exit, a brunette stopped folding clothes and shot the blonde an annoyed look. "You are such a meddler! I saw you eavesdropping on them, you knew they weren't together!"

The blonde grinned sheepishly. "I can't help it! She said herself she was 'giving up' on whoever the other guy is! And you saw the way this guy was looking at her, right?" Then she started giggling. "Although, judging by the look on his face when I called her his girlfriend, it's a new concept for him. So now he'll start thinking about it, and once he figures it out - voila, match made in heaven!"

A moment later, a shirt hit the blonde in the face, and the annoyed brunette put her hands on her hips. "You don't get paid to match-make, little miss Cupid. Start folding!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor edits made (as compared to the FF.net version) to certain paragraphs/sentences I felt could be written better. It's been a loooong time since I originally wrote these earlier chapters...


End file.
